Cohen was in court to ask the judge to limit the ability of federal prosecutors to review documents seized from his offices and home last week as part of a criminal investigation, which stems in part from a probe into possible collusion between Trump's presidential campaign and Russian Federation.

The Cohen investigation is being carried out by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of NY, after a referral from Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the probe of Russian election meddling and suspected contacts with Trump's campaign.

The bulk of the hearing focused on efforts by lawyers for Trump and Cohen to stop federal prosecutors from sifting through a trove of tax records, business documents, emails and other material that FBI agents seized in the raids last week.

Lawyers for Trump joined the hearing seeking to delay or prevent viewing of what they argued are protected documents under the attorney-client privilege.

Showing clips from Hannity's show last week, in which the host addressed the raid of Cohen's office, Noah noted, "It looks less like a news show and more like a guy who's really stressed giving himself a pep talk".

At one point, the judge made clear that for Cohen's claim to proceed, he would have to reveal the names of all the clients he has worked with since the 2016 election.

The search sought information on a variety of matters, including a $130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had sex with a married Trump in 2006.

Suddenly, Wood's decision to force Cohen to disclose his clients becomes clear. He called Cohen a great attorney, but said none of their discussions ever included a third party and were centered on real estate.

Wood replied, "I understand he doesn't want his name out there, but that's not enough under the law".

"It's a complex situation when you are speaking to millions of people", Dershowitz said.

That prompted a loud gasp in the crowded courtroom given Hannity's close ties to Trump - and because he had not disclosed his association with Cohen in multiple on-air commentaries about the case, even when Cohen appeared as his guest.

Hannity issue the following statement: "Michael Cohen has never represented me in any matter". And that he never retained Cohen or pay him for a service.

Hannity was named by Cohen when he was forced to disclose a third "mystery" client after the raid.

Responding to the revelation, Hannity on Monday called his dealings with Cohen a "minor relationship" and said he had asked questions that "focused nearly exclusively on real estate". "But I think it would have been much, much better had you disclosed that relationship".

It's hard to tell if Sherman's just speculating about the P.I. angle or if there's more to it but Hannity emailed MSNBC after Sherman's appearance to deny that his consultations with Cohen had anything to do with that.

Hannity said he assumed those discussions were covered by attorney-client privilege, and insisted that none involved any matter between himself and a third party.

Though the Hannity revelation drew most of the attention, the three-hour court hearing Monday ended without a resolution in the central fight over whether materials taken from Cohen are subject to attorney-client privilege.

follow

editors' picks

April 15, 2018Moscow court blocks use of Telegram messaging app
Third-party VPN/Proxy-might be overloaded, which is likely to result in slow operation during the first hours after the block. Telegram has repeatedly refused to comply, citing user privacy concerns.

April 14, 2018Aguero out for Manchester City vs
Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City's run in UCL, which ended in the quarterfinals, does not make them flops. Next week, a repeat of this fixture takes place at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup semi-finals.

April 13, 2018Worst US-Russian Relations Ever
Speaking at a news conference in the capital, Maria Zaharova condemned the threats from U.S. I was very positive about Ukraine-another negative to the Fake Russia C story!" he said.

April 12, 2018Getaround to Power Carsharing in the Uber App
It is also expanding Uber Bike by JUMP to Washington DC, after the program was being trialed in San Francisco earlier this year. The data is being folded into separate similar information that includes taxicabs and other ride hailing companies.

April 12, 2018Real Madrid vs Juventus — UEFA Match preview
The second leg of this Champions League quarter-final kicks off at 19.45 United Kingdom time (18.45 GMT). What: Real Madrid will host Juventus in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.